Spring-wheel.



Panenta t13111.7,1913

"To all 'whom t may concern:

sie

UNITED sTATEsj 4irirnrrrr y SIMONE. zii-Nenner COVINGTON, Piainasir'rnn'inria'.

sparire-WHEEL.

Be it knownthat I, SIMON F. ZnivGER, kcitizen of the United States, residing at Cjovington, in the-county ofTiogafand State of Pennsylvania, have inventedeertain new.

and useful Improvementsin Spring-llheels, of which the following isa speciiieation. h p My invention relates to improvements 1n wheel constructions and'more particularly to that typeof wheel employing resilient spokes, and the object o'f my invention is to provide a resilient wheel, particularly adapted to motor vehicles, in which sufficient resiliency willbe obtained by the specie construction of the resilient spokes to permit of the doing away of the pneumatic tire now generally in use.

A further object of my invention is to construct a spring wheel comprising a hub,

a felly, a detachable rim carried by the felly, and resilientr spokes connecting the hub and rim.

A further object of my invention is to f provide a spring wheellincluding a hub, a

felly, a detachable rima tire, and a plurality of resilient spokes connecting the hub and rim and securedjto the rim in such a manner that the spoke securing'means also Aserves to secure the rim to the felly and the tire to the rim. And a: still further object of my invention is to improve the construction and increase the efficiency of wheels of the above described character.

With these and other objects in view, my invention 'will be more clearly described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed out in the claims which are attached to and form a part of this application.

In the drawings; Figure l is a side eleva'- tion of the preferred embodimentof my wheel, parts being 'shown in section to better show the details of construction; Fig. 2'

is a section on the lline 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig.

3 is a transverse section of the hub; Fig. 4

is a longitudinal section of the hub.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indij,

cated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

The preferred embodiment of my wheelcomprises in general, a hub 10, felly 11, de'- tachable rim 12, tire 13, and a plurality of resilient spokes 14 secured by their inner endsto the' hub and by their outer ends to y: specieation of Ltter's, raient. k.Appliesnonfiifuiaprnla,1915i. seriaind. 691,585.

the detachable rim, the? bolts securing the spokes to the rim also serving to lockthe rim to the fellv and the .tire to the rim, aswill be hereinafter more fully explained.

Referring more specifically to the construction of thehub, itV will be seen to consist of two parts, ahub member proper 15 provided with the customary longitudinally extending, spindle receiving bore 16, the inner end of which-is counterbored to form `a cylindrical socket-for thev reception of a centrally formed, cylindrical extension 17v of the face plate 18, 'which face plate' forms the other member of the hub and' which is also provided with a spindle receiving bore inealinementcwith that of the hub lmember proper. tachably secured togetherby a plurality-of boltsf15"` which `are passed through alined bores ormed in the hub members and'whic'h are held `in-place by nuts 16. i

The inner face of the hub member proper 15 is provided with a plurality ofradially directed, spaced apart slots 19 adapted to receive the inner ends of the resilient spokes l'Patentled J and? ,1913. i

These two hub members are der 20, the spokes being held against lateral movementA by thex face plate 18 and against inwardmovementkby the cylindrical meinber 17 of the faceplate, against the outer face of which they bear.

The felly consists of ran annular ring which may be formed of wood or metal and in one or more pieces as preferred, and carried by this feily is'thevdetachable rim 12. This rim consists of two members, each comprising an annular ring 21 adapted to engage closely about the peripheral face of the felly, one upon each side thereof\and each provided upon its outer edge with an in-v tegrally formed, inwardly directed ange 22, these members being so proportioned that when in place upon the felly, the edge portions of the partsv 21 are spaced from each other, as shown in Fig. 2.

`The spokes 20 are formed ofiresilient material, preferablyI steel and are uniform in Width throughout their length, but taper gradually in thickness from their inner to their outer ends, this tapering in thickness not only servingto increase the resiliency of the outer portion of the spokes, but also acting to lock the inner ends of the spokes against outward movement from the hub. The free ends of these spokes are bent into spiral conguration and terminate eachc'in an eye 23 adapted to receive a bushing 24 forming bearings for the bolts 25 which are passed through suitable perforations formed in the flanges 22 of the detachable rim members and through the bushings and which are secured in place by nuts 26, the pivotal connection thus provided, giving perfect freedom to t-he spokes.

As best shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the spokes are slightly narrower than the felly, while the bushings are equal in length `to the width of the telly and it will therefore be seen that when the nuts 2G are turned home upon the'bolts 25, the riln members will be firmly secured upon the felly, the bushings acting as spacer members between the flanges of the rim. v

The tire, previously designated by thenumeral 13, is preferably made of solid rubber, although-,other materials may be employed if desired and is provided upon its inner face'with an integrally formed, inwardly directed annular shoulder 27 which, under normal conditions, is somewhat greater in width than the space between the portions 21 oi the rim members when the latter are secured in place.

In applying the tire, the nuts 26 are loosened to permit the spreading of the rim members, the tire is positioned about the rim with its shoulder 27 between the opposing portions 2l of the rim members and the nuts are again tightened to clamp the rim members inplace, this clamping action serving to compress the shoulder 27 of the tire between the portions 2l of the rim members and thus lock the tire against lateral movement upon the rim.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that l have provided a spring wheel o'l' extreme simplicity1 in construction, the detachable rim members and tire being secured in place by theulamping of the bolts which secure the free endsol the spokes to the rim. ll. will further be apparent that l have so secured the inner ends ot the resilient; spokes in the hub as to absolutely hold them against all movement,

while at the same time they may be readily removed in case of breaking.

The entire wheel, with the exception of the tire, will be preferably formed of metal and will therefore be strong and durable.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A wheel construction, including a felly, a detachable rim member surrounding said felly upon one side and having an inwardly directed annular ange, a. second detachable rim member surrounding the felly upon the other side and having an inwardly directed annular flange, the opposed edge port-ions of said rim members being spaced apart. a tire having an inwardly directed annular shoulder formed upon its inner face and `mounted upon said rim members with its shoulder positioned between thev opposing edge portions of the rim members, a plurality of bolts passed through the anges of the rim members and locking the rim members upon the felly and compressing the shoulder of the tire between the rim members, a hub, and a plurality of resilient spokes secured by their inner ends in the hub and pivotallyl secured3 by their outer ends on said bolts.

2. A resilient wheel comprising a hub, a telly, a. rim, spokessupported by the hub, spoke supports carried by the telly, the body portion of the spokes tapering in thickness to a point adjacent the telly. the spokes at this point being disposed obliquely with respect to their body portions, the remaining portion of the spoke being of substantially the same thickness throughout, said portion being coiled in a direct-ion opposite to that at which it is bent adjacent the body portion and embracing the spoke'support, its terminal being secured to said support.

ln testimony whereof I allix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

`WM. S. BLAIR, G. A. SPRING.' 

